Back in the saddle again

This morning I took off from our house around 6:10am and headed south on Highway 1. I was on the road to Marina, CA. The trip was nice and uneventful, traffic was great, but I’m sure that had to do with the fact that it was so early on a Sunday morning of a three day weekend.

I got out to the event, registered, and signed up for my work assignment, then began the dirty work. Changing the tires on the car. It’s a fairly painless job, though I really drag it out most times, I could probably get it done in under 5 minutes, but typically it takes me 15-20 as I fart around doing it.

I worked first heat, I was doing the timer cards, wow, I can’t tell you the last time I had to write times down instead of them going into a computer Smile I little antiquated, but the process over all worked out. Computers can definitely make things more efficient, but also add a level of overhead that most clubs don’t want to deal with.

The weather at Marina was awesome today, I was half prepared to freeze my ass off because Ed Runnion warned me last night to bring a jacket. I must admit, a jacket, or pants, were not needed today! A t-shirt and shorts were plenty.

I ran in the second heat, my first autox runs since the El Toro ProSolo in April. I was definitely rusty. I also seemed to have forgotten how badly this car needs a differential. If anyone from OS Giken is out there and interested in trading some sponsorship for product let me know, I’m definitely open to opportunities Smile

My runs for the most part improved each time today, until the last I believe. I don’t know where my times were compared to much of the rest of the class, but I know I was probably 1.5+ seconds off where I should have been. The ASP cars I saw were running low 41s, while I was in the low 43s. The Tsang brothers (FSP) were in the high 42s, so I definitely need to get this car sorted out and my driving improved!

I didn’t stick around the site after my runs, changed tires and headed out so that I could get home. I think I found the downfall of living in Half Moon Bay. It took me just under 2 hours to get to Marina this morning, and over 3 hours to get home due to all the holiday/beach traffic!

AAS Autocross July 3rd, 2011Here’s a photo I took of the car today I didn’t take many photos, but you can see the few that I did here.

I’ll have videos up later this week

Settings:

  • Tire psi: 25/23 f/r
  • Shocks: Front 7 clicks compression 1 full turn rebound
  • Rear 3 clicks rebound

About the Author:

Chris Hammond
Chris Hammond has autocrossed for 24 years, racing in a variety of vehicles from a 1994 VW Golf to a 1999 Z-28, a 2003 350z, a 2004 ZO6 and a 2016 FRS. He is the founder of AutocrossBlog.com and created the ultimate autocross forum, SOLO2.ORG, years ago . Read more at ChrisHammond.com

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